One day when looking at your e-mail inbox, you find you have received an email from a friend you have not heard from for at least one year.

Answer options:3::You do nothing with the e-mail – and, certainly, you don’t click on the link.1::You click on the link, since you know the sender (friend) of the e-mail.1::You click on the link only if it looks somehow familiar to you.

Feedback:

This is the right strategy. You have not heard from this friend in a while, and this looks very much like a phishing attempt with someone mischievously hacking your friend’s e-mail account and using it to exploit the existing trust between you and your friend. A malware can be easily installed by clicking on a link. The fact that the sender’s e-mail address is your friend’s address does not mean that he/she is necessarily the sender. Even if the link seems somehow familiar to you, you should not click on it (note that the real link may not be the one that you see in the e-mail).

Moreover, a good strategy is to call your friend; this will not only help you confirm the phishing attempt (or, in case of false alarm, to clarify the situation) but also alert your friend about the possible mischievous hacking of his/her e-mail account. Furthermore this will alert your friend about the potential for more phishing attempts using his/her hacked email address.

This is something that you should not do. This e-mail looks very much like a phishing attempt with someone mischievously hacking your friend’s e-mail account and using it to exploit the existing trust between you and your friend. A malware can be easily installed by clicking on a link. The fact that the sender’s e-mail address is your friend’s address does not mean that he/she is necessarily the sender. Moreover, even if the link seems somehow familiar to you, you should not click on it (note that the real link may not be the one that you see in the e-mail).

The correct answer is that you should do nothing with the e-mail – and, certainly, you don’t click on the link. Moreover, a good strategy is to call your friend; this will not only help you confirm the phishing attempt (or, in case of false alarm, to clarify the situation) but also alert your friend about the possible mischievous hacking of his/her e-mail account. Furthermore this will alert your friend about the potential for more phishing attempts using his/her hacked email address.

This is not a correct strategy. This e-mail looks very much like a phishing attempt with someone mischievously hacking your friend’s e-mail account and using it to exploit the existing trust between you and your friend. Even if the link seems somehow familiar to you, you should not click on it (note that the real link may not be the one that you see in the e-mail). A malware can be easily installed by clicking on a link. The fact that the sender’s e-mail address is your friend’s address does not mean that he/she is necessarily the sender.

The correct answer is that you should do nothing with the e-mail – and, certainly, you don’t click on the link. Moreover, a good strategy is to call your friend; this will not only help you confirm the phishing attempt (or, in case of false alarm, to clarify the situation) but also alert your friend about the possible mischievous hacking of his/her e-mail account. Furthermore this will alert your friend about the potential for more phishing attempts using his/her hacked email address.